Chapter 16 - The Harbor Sabotage
At four o'clock in the morning, an alarm shrieked through the operations center of Vance Maritime.
Serafina was already dressed in her charcoal three-piece suit, sipping black coffee at the central console.
The security monitors displayed the deep-water harbor at Pier 44.
A fire had broken out near the primary container terminal where three super-tankers were scheduled to clear customs before noon.
"The main valves have been tampered with," the harbor master reported via radio, static crackling through the speakers.
"The manual shutoff was welded shut from the inside."
"If the fuel lines explode, the port authority will declare a state of emergency and freeze all maritime commerce for thirty days."
Serafina’s jaw tightened.
Christian was not relying solely on the legal codicil.
If the harbor was declared a disaster zone, the international maritime treaty allowed the secondary bondholder—Christian’s syndicate—to seize operational control under emergency salvage rights.
He was playing a double-edged sword: legal ambush on one side, economic terror on the other.
"Deploy our private emergency response unit," Serafina ordered immediately.
"Do not wait for the city fire department; Christian has friends in the municipal commission who will delay the trucks."
"I want the harbor master’s auxiliary team to flood the secondary ballast chambers."
Marcus stepped forward, his tactical comms unit already in his ear.
"Lady Serafina, Christian’s personal mercenary team is still on the pier."
"They are guarding the valve room to prevent our technicians from reaching the cut-off switch."
Serafina set her coffee cup down with sudden force, the liquid sloshing over the brim.
"Then go with them, Marcus."
"Authorize non-lethal suppression."
"If any man resists, remind them who holds the sovereign charter for this coastline."
"I will not allow an exiled brother and a bitter old woman to burn down what my ancestors built."
Marcus checked the slide of his sidearm and nodded crisply.
"It will be cleared within thirty minutes, Ma'am."
Serafina turned back to the massive panoramic monitors showing the flickering flames reflecting in the black harbor water.
The clock on the wall read 04:32.
The Harbor Summit was scheduled for 09:00 at the Grand Imperial Ballroom.
Christian thought he had backed her into an impossible corner: fighting a raging fire on the water while losing her crown in the boardroom.
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He had forgotten that a true queen does not choose between her fleet and her throne.
She defends both, and she takes the heads of those who dared to strike.
